A recent study suggests that people with knee arthritis
may fare better if they force themselves to remain as active
as possible, even if the exercise causes some pain.
Take pain medicine as necessary before exercising.
There is no evidence that being active will cause a more
rapid deterioration of your arthritic knee. Being active
is important for your general health and mental well-being.
It also keeps your muscles strong, and this will speed
your recovery after surgery. You are the best judge of
what you can do. Remain as active as your pain will allow
you to be until you decide to proceed with surgery.
Walking a treadmill or jogging will usually
aggravate knee pain. The best all-around exercise for
you is swimming. The water relieves the stress
on your knee as you “walk” about in the shallow end of
the pool. Lap swimming is excellent: it involves the
use of most of your BODY onunload="leave()" muscles.
Dr. Huddleston can prescribe a program of “pool therapy” for
you if it is available in your area. Bicycling (stationary
or mobile) is also well tolerated. If you do not have
access to an exercise bike or pool, then walk as much
as you can.
